Now! Guild recruiting. I know I harp on this a lot, but it's one of those things I always seem to find myself put in charge of to some degree. Maybe it's because I'm outspoken, or people think I'm just mature enough to be a good face for the guild. Whatever the reason, over the years I've come up with a basic set of questions I ask my potential recruits, and a fairly lengthy set of FAQs that I just rattle off when they ask for information. It never fails that I'll finish up my spiel, ask the prospie if they've got any questions, and they hit at LEAST one that makes me twitch, double-take, or quietly /ignore Prospienoob and log off. What questions are these, you ask?
*slap* I was getting there. Give me time. Noob.
- How do you handle loot for new members? Asking about loot is not in and of itself a bad thing. It's an important thing to know when you're going into a guild, and in many (if not most) cases it's why you're looking to leave your current guild. Pay close attention to your recruiter's informational packet speech, because any headhunter worth her salt is going to have that in there somewhere. And if you're still not clear on how getting goodies works, find a better way of asking. Cutting right to "how likely am I to get drops" is going to send up warning flags in the recruiter's mind, if she's been in her post for any length of time. Heavily emphasizing loot in your question/answer phase is going to send the signal that you're only interested in gear, and once you've gotten what you need or it looks like someone else gets something you want, you'll be moving on. Recruits are a big investment for a guild, and too often we see our investments walk out the door before we get any kind of return on them.
- Try asking a more specific question. Something along the lines of: "How is your EP/GP system weighted?" or "Does your loot council check against attendance before awarding drops?" Tailor the question to the guild's loot system, and try to get a more complete answer out of the recruiter. If for some reason they suck and didn't mention loot at all in their informational speech, ask what kind of loot policy the guild runs, or offer up the loot system you're most familiar with and ask how theirs is different. You may get a "we can go over that in more detail later" or a link to the guild website, but it's less likely to set off your recruiter's spider sense.
- What's your minimum attendance? Seriously? All that says to your recruiter is "how little effort can I put in before you kick me?" There are SO many better ways to ask that question. Would you ask your professor how much homework you have to turn in to not fail the class? (Don't answer that, because I know you have, and I know I have, because that's just how college students roll.) Remember that look you got from mom when you asked what happened if you didn't do your chores? That's the one your recruiter just gave you through the internet for asking that question.
- Pretty much any other way of asking about attendance policies is better than that. Try asking what their attendance policy is, or how they handle RL interruptions, or something like that. It's easy. Just don't mention the minimum.
- Will you guys backflag me? Flagging, keying, and attunement for dungeons is a lot less common in MMORPGs today than it was two years ago. If your game happens to have some dungeon or other that has an access requirement, it's kind of a big deal to have access or get it as soon as possible. Especially if you're coming in from outside a raiding guild, you've probably got some catching up to do. But remember...the Q&A phase of your interview is where your recruiter checks to see what your priorities are and what you're looking to get out of the guild, so you wan to be careful not to make her think you just want carried, welfared, or handed things. Weigh your phrasing.
- Try asking which keys/attunements you're expected to have, or just come right out and offer which zones you haven't completed access for. Yes, this may cost you your guild invite if the guild's not interested in helping you flag for the zones. That said, you would have lost the invite anyway if you came right out and asked them to carry you. I usuallC default to something like "I haven't been able to get runs to finish my Deathtoll access yet. Is that going to be an issue?"
- What level is your guild? Guild levels are really dumb. All that tells you is how long the guild's been together, how much grinding they've done, and what perks you have access to. I've yet to be in a game where not having certain high guild-level perks would make or break your raid. Just don't ask this one. If you're that desperate to know, check them out on your game's armory/players/DB site. Game doesn't have one? Guess you'll just have to be curious. This one isn't going to make your recruiter question your integrity, but it WILL piss her off. It's not important. Don't waste her time. She's got things she wants to do as soon as this part of the interview's wrapped up and you're invited.
- How fast will I get promoted? Really? You just asked that? Odds are, if you're just walking into a guild you're going to want to get yourself established before you even THINK about things like promotions. Your recruiter should have covered at least the recruit/probation/member phase in her informational, but in case she didn't you can really simply cover your backside on the issue without sending up the power-hungry scrub flags.
- Ask if there's someplace you can get a rundown of the guild ranks, see who your class leaders are, and all that good stuff. If the guild doesn't keep a website, your recruiter will probably launch into a discussion of the guild ranks you need to worry about, and how to get there. If they don't- Q&A is also about you feeling the guild out. You may want to consider looking somewhere else, because they may just not be organized enough.
- Will you need me to fill any roles besides (main role)? I like people that know how flexible their class is, and I like to know if someone is willing to role pivot if my raid leader needs them to. This kind of question tells me that you know more about your class than what's posted on the cookie cutter websites, and you're at least familiar with your class's alternate roles.
- Don't ask "Do I have to tank/heal/dps?" if it's your offspec and you don't want to. It's a phrasing thing, and "do I have to" sounds whiny and makes me think you're going to be a pain in my ass. That, or you don't know what you're doing, and you'll be a pain in my raid leader's ass.
- Have you guys already blown your locks for this week? I actually like this question. It's sort of a way to ask if you can get into this week's raid, but it's also checking to see if you're free to get a pickup raid or a last run in with your old guild before zone lockouts reset. This shows that you're aware of the fact that your lockout is going to belong to the guild once you're tagged, and you're willing to commit to our schedule. If the answer is yes, and you still have an open lockout, check to see if it's okay for you to blow yours as well. You may be forwarded to the raid leader, but again... It shows both officers that you care and are considerate.
- When are raids posted? You want to know when to watch for the next week's events going up, so you can sign up. This, to me at least, shows eagerness and a willingness to commit. It also opens things up for me to give you our "you have to sign up by" and our cancellation policy without having to ramble for an hour solid at you.
- What voice chat system do you use? If I didn't already cover it, this clarifies for me that you're willing to use voice chat, hopefully won't whine about the system we're using, and are familiar with how to navigate the programs. My raid leader bitches me out every time a recruit doesn't have voice ready to go by formup, so you're saving me an ass chewing. Thanks, prospie!
- Is there anything I should be looking to pump into the guild bank? Maybe you're a tradeskiller. Or you're just someone who wants to contribute. I don't care, because you just made my day. This shows that you're willing to contribute in some way to the guild as a whole, either with crafted or dropped goodies. Or cash. We recruiters are suckers for that kind of thing. This also lets me bridge into an explanation of consumables, guild repairs, alt gear...all kinds of things. Thanks, prospie! Hugz 4 u! ^_^
Tomorrow: Drama from your old guilds does not constitute experience, or Stuff Roxi doesn't want to hear in your interview.
No comments:
Post a Comment